The familiar Men’s World Cup qualifying format in UEFA returns for the 2014 edition. This time, with the same number of participants and the same number of slots available, the format will be completely identical as for South Africa 2010. In the group phase, the 53 nations, including defending champions Spain, will play in nine groups. The winners of each group will qualify, and the top eight amongst the second placed finishers will play off for the remaining four slots. The action is due to begin in SEP 2012.
¤ Teams to qualify: 13
• Group phase entrants: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Rep, Denmark, England, Estonia, Faroe Is, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland Rep, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia FYR, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales